Alumni

Laura Anne Heller                                                      

BA, 2000           

After my graduating with a BA in English and Southern Studies, I moved to Jackson to work as an assistant librarian at Jackson Preparatory School for three years. Although I loved it, I needed to earn my Masters of Library and Information Science. I moved to Hattiesburg to finish the degree at USM and worked for a semester in the McCain Archives in the process discovering my love for historical documents, photographs, and other artifacts. Following graduation in 2004, I volunteered at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in Jackson for a month before accepting a two-year Project Archivist position at Berea College, Kentucky. I am currently working at the Appalachian College Association, also in Berea, which has been a second home to me. My interests continue to include the preservation of historical documents and photographs, but I have nurtured my creativity in photography, poetry, and, more recently, mixed media collage. One project is a poetry series about people in Lexington, Kentucky, during the 1800s–1900s. I always keep a Web site updated with my projects and endeavors: www.poetess77.com.